Nation concerned about Qantas: Rudd

The Australian, February 5, 2007


Joseph Kerr


AUSTRALIANS are deeply concerned about the future of Qantas, Labor leader Kevin Rudd said today. Mr Rudd said he wanted to look much more closely at the $11 billion takeover bid by local and international private equity interests led by Macquarie Bank.

The ACTU wants the federal government to impose conditions on the sale of the airline, saying the government is the only power that can guarantee jobs are protected as a result of the proposed sale.

“The Australian people are deeply concerned about Qantas's future,” Mr Rudd told reporters.

“They want to make sure that the national flag carrier is preserved, they want to make sure that jobs remain in Australia, they want to make sure that there is proper delivery of airline services, they want to make sure that this airline remains a viable business into the future, particularly given the new debt load which will be incorporated into the company should this purchase proceed.

“For those sorts of reasons we need to be looking carefully at the detail of this proposal.”

Meanwhile, it emerged that a Senate inquiry into the proposed takeover could examine the likely impact of the change on regional services.

While his plan has not at this stage been endorsed by the Government, Greens leader Bob Brown this morning released his proposed terms of reference for a possible inquiry into the controversial takeover proposal, saying he also wants to inquire into the likely impacts on Qantas’ 38,000 employees.

But the consortium behind the deal, Airline Partners Australia, has ruled out agreeing to keeping all jobs intact, saying no business can do so.

APA last night buckled to growing political concern about the deal, agreeing to submit its bid to the Foreign Investment Review Board for approval.

This opens up the prospect of the Government imposing conditions on the sale, and backbench pressure is growing for a range of conditions such as forcing Qantas to maintain regional routes.

APA director Bob Mansfield said this morning the consortium would be able to live with some conditions being imposed, but not on jobs.

“On staffing, what we're putting on that, is we can't guarantee jobs, because I don't think any employer can,” he said.

“As things change, you've got to adapt to that, but our single focus on this whole exercise we're looking at with Qantas, is to grow the organisation with 70 more planes and a 40 per cent bigger network at the end of the five to six years.

“If that happens jobs will grow, they may be different jobs and (Qantas chief executive) Geoff Dixon and his management team make those decisions.”

Senator Brown’s inquiry would look into the impact of the sale on regional Australia and tourism, the implications for Qantas employees, the implications of the proposed generous executive pay deal, the track record of the buyers, the level of debt Qantas will be required to carry and the implications for air safety.